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  • WorldSBK: Rea Beats Razgatlioglu to Donington Race 3 Win

    The good weather from the morning remained in the afternoon in Donington for the second full-length race of the weekend, in which Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took his first triple of the season.

    Starting from pole position, courtesy of his Superpole Sprint Race win, Rea made the holeshot from Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) and Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati), although the Spaniard was soon demoted to fourth by Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) completed the top five on lap one, whilst the three Yamaha riders – Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK), Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) and Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) – were fighting behind.

    Alvaro Bautista and Chaz Davis at Donington 2019 WSBK. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Lowes and Baz were able to get past van der Mark, and started to close down Davies, who was dropping off Bautista in fourth.

    Meanwhile, out front, Rea and Razgatlioglu were edging away from Haslam behind. That is, they were until Toprak hit the front. When the Turk took the lead from Rea, Haslam was able to close in, as was Bautista who was able to make it an eight-wheeled battle for the lead with twenty laps to go.

    Rea reclaimed the lead with just over seventeen laps to go when Razgatlioglu ran wide in the Melbourne Hairpin. Fortunately for the #54, he only dropped to second, as Haslam also ran slightly wide. The mistake from Razgatlioglu didn’t split the group, though, and neither did the fighting between Toprak and Haslam who swapped positions in the Foggy Esses and the Melbourne Hairpin.

    Two laps after his mistake in the penultimate corner, Razgatlioglu re-took the lead from Rea in the same spot.

    With thirteen laps to go,  Rea was  in second and his teammate, Haslam, in third, Bautista’s desire to get past the #91 Kawasaki was  growing.

    One lap later, the gap from second to third was negated once more, as Razgatlioglu ran wide on the entry to the Foggy Esses which cost him both time and the lead which Rea took once more.

    The lap after, Bautista was past Haslam at the Melbourne Hairpin. It was a clean move, despite coming from quite a way back. It was an important move for the Spaniard to make, as the leading two Kawasakis were escaping and Loris Baz was dragging Alex Lowes up to the front group.

    Lowes passed Baz with eight laps to go, but continued to drag the Frenchman up to Haslam, and Sykes was closing too.

    With two laps to go, the battle was on for the win, but a moment for Razgatlioglu in the Foggy Esses gave the Turk too much work to do on the final lap, which meant Rea took his third win of the weekend, his sixth of the season and his first triple. Additionally, Rea’s championship advantage grew to twenty-four points over Bautista with tracks Rea believes to be in his favour on the WorldSBK horizon.

    Razgatlioglu’s third second place to Jonathan Rea in the last three Sunday races will not have gone down particularly well. However, the Turk has only one less podium since Imola than Bautista who was unbeaten before the Italian round, which is impressive from the second-year Puccetti rider.

    Alvaro Bautista ended his recent run of misfortune in WorldSBK second races to take his first podium of the weekend with third place. Having lost the championship lead this weekend, there will now need to be a change in mindset for the Spaniard at Laguna Secam and for the second half of the season.

    Alex Lowes was fourth. It was his best race of the weekend, and could have been better but he took too long to pass Haslam, leaving him without the time to attack Bautista for the final podium spot. Haslam’s fifth place looked unlikely with a few laps to go with two Yamahas and a BMW closing him down, but he hung on from Baz who was sixth and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) who recovered from eleventh on the grid (due to his declassification from race one) to finish seventh. However, there will have been some disappointment from Sykes, who could have fought with Rea and Razgatlioglu had he started from the front row.

    Michael van der Mark – Pata Yamaha WorldSBK – 2019 WorldSBK – R8 Donington. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

    Michael van der Mark’s target for the Donington weekend was top tens following his crash in Misano in which he broke a wrist. Top tens is what he achieved, beating Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) to eighth in race two. Davies himself finished ninth after dropping off following the opening laps when he was fighting inside the top five. Marco Melandri’s gamble on the SCX tyre (designed for the ten lap Superpole race) got him to tenth place with the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK YZF-R1 early on, and the Italian remained there to round out the top ten for the second time on Sunday.

    Peter Hickman’s BMW Motorrad WorldSBK S1000RR held together in the second race and he finished eleventh, ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team), Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK), Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) completed the points, whilst Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) was the final classified rider in sixteenth.

    Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) was the only non-finisher, as he retired with bike problems early on.

  • WorldSBK: By the Lake Before the Summer Break

    WorldSBK: By the Lake Before the Summer Break

    There was no rest for the Superbike World Championship after the eighth round of the 2019 season in Donington, as one week later the paddock is in California for round nine of the season at Laguna Seca.

    Despite Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) displacing Alvaro Bautista (AUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) from the top of the standings in Donington last week, the biggest news coming into Laguna is that GRT Yamaha WorldSBK’s Marco Melandri is retiring at the end of the season after more than twenty years of World Championship racing. The thirty-six-year-old Italian amassed twenty-two Grand Prix victories across the 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP classes between his debut in 1997 and 2010 before he moved to the Superbike World Championship with what was the factory Yamaha team alongside Eugene Laverty. Although he moved away from Superbikes in 2015 and 2016 at the request of Aprilia with whom he competed the 2014 WSBK series, Melandri was able to achieve twenty-two wins in WorldSBK for Yamaha, BMW, Aprilia and most recently Ducati. The Italian has not endeared himself, necessarily, to all of hisrivals (most recently Chaz Davies in Jerez) but has made a lasting impression on World Championship motorcycle racing and it will be interesting to see how he fairs in the final four months of his racing career.

    Marco Melandri – GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK – 2019 WorldSBK – R7 Misano. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

    Despite his success on the world stage, Melandri has found the top step at Laguna Seca only once, on the Aprilia in 2014.

    Jonathan Rea, on the other hand, has four wins at the Weather Tech Raceway since it arrived on the WorldSBK calendar in 2013. The tight, twisty nature of Laguna should suit the Kawasaki of 2019 quite well in its battle with the Ducati Panigale V4R, and Rea’s championship fight with Bautista. Additionally, the hard braking zones of the Andretti Hairpin, the Corkscrew and the final corner should suit Rea’s hard braking style quite well, and could put him in line to extend his championship lead even further from the twenty-four points it currently sits at.

    For Bautista, the challenge could be just as difficult as Donignton, with Laguna holding one quite important trait, with respect to the Ducati, which is similar to the British track, that is that there is little time spent at full throttle, and less time spent with the bike upright. Almost all of Laguna Seca is spent on the side of the tyre, and much of it is spent with half-throttle. Bautista has shown often this year that his Panigale is capable of being extremely fast in the high-speed corners, however in the low-speed the Ducati is better matched with the Kawasaki, which could work against Bautista, who has not visited Laguna since MotoGP were last there in 2013. Perhaps it should be noted, though, that Bautista’s result on that 2013 trip to Laguna was one in which he missed the podium to Valentino Rossi by less than half-a-tenth.

    One of the surprises of Laguna Seca one year ago was Eugene Laverty, who finished third in race two for his first podium of 2018 on the Aprilia, and the RSV4’s final podium in the Superbike World Championship. Now at Team Goeleven, Laverty arrives in California still nursing two broken wrists after his Imola practice crash in May. Having tried to come back in Donington, but sat out after Friday afternoon, Laverty will try once more this weekend to be back on the grid before the summer break.

    Outside of the two championship contenders, Rea and Bautista, there should be plenty of competition for the podium. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was able to achieve two podiums in Donington, taking his total for the season to six. Haslam’s main issue with the 2019 WorldSBK-spec ZX-10RR is still getting the bike stopped in the heavy braking zones and the three aforementioned big stops (Andretti Hairpin, Corkscrew, final corner) will likely prove problematic for the reigning BSB champion. However, the more flowing sections of the track should suit his style.

    Alex Lowes – Pata Yamaha WorldSBK – 2019 WorldSBK – R8 Donington. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

    The same could be said for Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) who narrowly missed the podium in race two last week in Donington to Bautista and was third in Laguna race one last year. Lowes’ Pata Yamaha WorldSBK teammate, Michael van der Mark, will still be contending with his own broken wrist. The Dutchman was able to finish inside the top ten in all three races in Britain, and will be aiming for more of the same this time out.

    Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) will probably be wondering at the moment what he has to do to beat Jonathan Rea, having been beaten in race-long battles by the Northern Irishman twice in the last two rounds. His own hard-braking style, more aggressive than Rea’s, could be effective this weekend, although Californian temperatures could lead to tyre degradation problems later in the race for the aggressive Turk. If he can manage the tyre, he should be there in the podium fight.

    Featured image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

  • BSB: More Ducati Dominance on the Cards in Snetterton?

    The British Superbike Championship heads to Snetterton this weekend for the sixth round of the 2019 season, with Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) leading both the overall and podium points standings.

    Snetterton should be a good track for the Ducati, with the long pit straight, as well as the Bentley Straight out the back, playing to the main strength of the Panigale V4R: the motor. It would be incorrect, though, to say that the V4R is only good at going in a straight line, though. As evidenced by Alvaro Bautista in the World Championship, and the bike’s success in the hands of Redding, Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) and Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing) on the twisty British tracks, including Redding’s race two win at the tightest of them all, Knockhill, last time out.

    Scott Redding on the Be Wiser Ducati at BSB Knockhill 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Indeed, it is hard to see anything other than Ducati sweeping this weekend, with Brookes having shown strong in Snetterton in the past, including last year when he finished fourth and third on the Yamaha and contended for the win with Leon Haslam’s Kawasaki in both races. Additionally, Tommy Bridewell has been strong at almost every race track so far this season, consistency proving his key to success in 2019.

    Whilst Scott Redding’s prospective success before the season was thought to be down to how he would perform in circuits like Snetterton, which is more open than other British tracks. The success of the #45 so far this season would suggest that his comfortability in tracks with close barriers and blind corners is not a problem, but nonetheless a strong weekend here would set him up well for perhaps the most particular of the British circuits, Thruxton, which is next up on the schedule after Snetterton.

    Last year it was Kawasaki, in the hands of Leon Haslam, who took both victories in Snetterton. The Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki team who Haslam rode for last year has not seen the same success in 2019 so far, with Ben Currie injured since Oulton Park and Glenn Irwin yet to find his feet on the ZX-10RR in BSB form.

    Danny Buchan, meanwhile, has been competitive on the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki, and took his first BSB win last time out in Knockhill. Competing with the Ducati riders in the straights at Snetterton, though, will not be easy, especially for a rider of the vertical size of Buchan.

    Tarran Mackenzie at the 2019 BSB Knockhill round. Image courtesy of Impact Images/McAms Yamaha

    Yamaha have not won since Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) took victory in Silverstone race two, the second race of the season. In fact, Buchan is the only non-Ducati rider to win since Mackenzie’s Silverstone win. Mackenzie is still right in the championship hunt, though, sitting eleven podium points behind Redding, and fifty-two points in front of Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW Motorrad) who is seventh in the overall championship and suffering with a broken leg from his race two crash in Knockhill.

    That battle for the final Showdown spots is going to start to warm up soon, with Xavi Fores (Honda Racing) holding the sixth and final spot, twenty points in front of Iddon and Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) who is back in BSB action this weekend after a trip out on the world stage last weekend in Donington at the factory BMW squad. Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) is in the fight, too, twenty-six points behind teammate Fores.

  • WorldSBK: Rea Takes Red-Flagged Donington Sprint Race Win

    The Superpole race for round eight of the 2019 Superpole World Championship saw Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) take his second win of the weekend and extend his championship lead.

    It was Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) who made the holeshot from pole position and held the early lead although under pressure from Rea. The reigning World Champion had a go at leading, passing Sykes into the Foggy Esses on lap three, but he ran wide and Sykes squared him off to reclaim the top spot.

    Behind the two leaders, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) had passed Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) for third place, and started to close back in on the back of Rea in second. Haslam was able to go with the Turk to make it a four-way fight for the lead. Meanwhile, Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) was in fifth place and dropping off, under some pressure from Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha).

    With six laps to go, Rea re-passed Sykes in the Foggy Esses and forced the BMW rider out wide to keep the position. In trying to escape from the #66, Rea made some mistakes allowing the 2013 World Champion to close back in on the reigning champion.

    Razgatlioglu had also managed to keep in touch with the leading pair, whilst Haslam made some mistakes on lap six which dropped him back towards Bautista who, in turn, had started to move back forwards.

    As the riders began lap eight, the red flag came out as a result of an engine blow up for Markus Reiterberger’s BMW Motorrad WorldSBK, Peter Hickman. Oil went down as a result, and four riders crashed on it: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team), Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team), Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK).

    Hickman, too, was of course out, as was Sykes when the #66 crashed on the oil after the red flag was shown. There was notably a lack of oil flags, so Sykes especially was unfortunate to lose a second place he had the pace to achieve – and in many ways he did achieve.

    With seven laps having been completed, the result was called, making Rea the winner. It was his second win of the weekend and his sixth of the season. Unfortunately for Rea, Sykes’ retirement meant that Bautista was promoted to fourth, so instead of sixteen points the four-times champion’s points lead extended to fifteen.

    Toprak Razgatlioglu inherited second place from Sykes, taking his fourth podium of the season, whilst Leon Haslam made it an all-Kawasaki top three for the second time in two rounds.

    Alvaro Bautista will have been thankful for the regulation which cost Sykes second place as it promoted him to fourth place, gaining him a point which could be crucial come Qatar. Loris Baz was the top Yamaha in fifth place for Ten Kate Racing, which was an impressive result in the team’s third round of the season in the World Championship.

    Marco Melandri. at Donington Park 2019 WSBK. Image courtesy of Yamaha

     

    Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was sixth, ahead of Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) in seventh and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in eighth. Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) was ninth, whilst Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) survived Hickman’s oil to round out the top ten. Similarly, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) got through the oil safely enough for eleventh – the final classified position.

  • 2019 British Grand Prix: F1’s very own Summer Festival

    Ask anybody in the UK what their favourite summer festival is, and they’ll probably tell you Glastonbury. For an F1 fan though? It’s Silverstone for F1’s British Grand Prix.

    Round 10 of the 2019 season brings us to the 5.1 Kilometre Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire, where Lewis Hamilton will look to achieve the feat he has brilliantly reached 6 times in his career, but fell short of last year – victory at home.

    Lewis Hamilton. Photo courtesy of Pirelli

    He will face a challenge though; an exciting mix of power and aerodynamic efficiency through fast corners is needed to be fast at Silverstone, which is something Mercedes have mastered a lot better than Ferrari this year, but the Prancing Horse cannot be ruled out at a track where their engine will have somewhat of an edge, and a track at which they won last year with Sebastian Vettel. A win this time seems a more onerous challenge for them, as Mercedes look to re-establish their dominance after an extremely disappointing weekend for them in Austria.

    As for Red Bull, the task is a lot steeper for them too. Winner of the last race Max Verstappen will be eyeing the famous complex of Maggots, Becketts and Chapel, coupled with the enhanced performance of their Honda engine, driven on by the exhilaration of their first win as a manufacturer since 2006. Pierre Gasly ought to have been galvanised to pick up the pace in the other Red Bull, having finished seventh and a lap down while Verstappen won last time out, as Gasly’s future at the team even beyond the summer break between Hungary and Belgium now begins to look precarious.

    Further down, Haas are still trying to get their heads round the issue of just how and why their car is so much slower in the race than it is over one lap, asides from tyre degradation, while Renault, Racing Point and Toro Rosso all seek to improve after a scoreless Austrian Grand Prix for all three of those teams.

    Romain Grojean. Image courtesy of Haas F1 Media

    McLaren and Lando Norris come to their home Grand Prix on a high after a brilliant points scoring race in the last outing, with Carlos Sainz magnificently coming back from the back of the grid to finish eighth. Williams and George Russell come to their home race having now officially lost Technical Director Paddy Lowe, and without really expecting their ill fortunes to improve this weekend. To compound matters, Robert Kubica had Driver of the Day in Spielberg cruelly snatched away from him by a website glitch… having finished last and a lap down.

    Truth be told, this is a big race for almost every team on the grid. Mercedes, Red Bull, Renault, Haas, Racing Point and, of course the two British teams, McLaren and Williams, are largely based in the UK; a testament to the versatility and engineering excellence the UK serves to Formula One – not that we’re bragging about it or anything.

    What we’re not bragging about is the uncertainty surrounding the British Grand Prix, which is masked by the atmosphere created at the magnificent Silverstone venue. Silverstone has had to spend a lot of money in the last year on two resurfacing jobs and, as a result, a huge loss of revenue for cancelled races. The second re-surfacing this year came in the wake of the cancelled Moto GP race last year as a result of insufficient drainage during heavy rain. The inflating costs of hosting a Formula One race may well become too treacherous for Silverstone Circuits Ltd, led by Stuart Pringle.

    Subsequently, there have been rumours that the British Grand Prix’s next home may well be in the streets of London.

    The fears of Silverstone losing the race may yet still be allayed though. A press Conference set to take place at 2 PM on the 10 July is expected to feature the announcement of a contract extension which will see Silverstone remain the home of the British Grand Prix beyond this year.

    London’s great, but for the British Grand Prix? The wide, fast, exciting track; the fields, campsites and barbeques of Silverstone are surely where the British Grand Prix needs to be.

  • Marta Garcia takes maiden W Series win from pole

    Marta Garcia takes maiden W Series win from pole

    Marta Garcia stormed to her first W Series victory from pole position at the Norisring as championship leader Jamie Chadwick had to settle for third place.

    The battles began even before qualifying had started, as W Series staged an FP2 shootout between Canadian Megan Gilkes, and the reserve drivers Vivien Keszthelyi and Sarah Bovy, to determine who would enter the race. By setting the fastest time of the three, in seventh place, Keszthelyi was given permission to race.

    Garcia took pole with a time of 50.712s, with Chadwick just 0.081s behind. Fabienne Wohlwend and Gosia Rdest set the third and fourth quickest times to line up on the second row of the grid. American Sabre Cook displayed her best pace of the season, qualifying in tenth place. Emma Kimilainen, returning after injuries caused by a first-lap crash with Gilkes at Hockenheim, qualified in eighth, but felt that even more could have been possible after being caught out by a red flag.

    As the lights went out, Garcia made a confident getaway and led throughout, never looking in danger of losing her lead. Beitske Visser made a decisive start to jump from fifth to second, where she remained throughout, with Chadwick and Wohlwend falling back to third and fourth respectively.

    Chadwick seemed to struggle for pace in the race, coming under pressure from Wohlwend behind. However, in the closing stages, Chadwick seemed to find some hidden pace, hunting down Visser ahead but unable to find a way past.

    The race was far from incident-free, with Rdest damaging her front wing on the opening lap, and Sarah Moore and Shea Holbrook both suffering damage after coming together.

    Kimilainen made a solid return to the series, finishing in fifth place after coming out on top of an exciting battle with Jessica Hawkins, and challenging Wohlwend for fourth, as well as setting the fastest lap of the race, at 50.975s.

    Alice Powell had a commendable drive, having fought her way back into the top eight after starting from the back due to a gearbox failure in qualifying. However, her luck continued to run dry as she suffered a fuel pump failure in the closing stages of the race and was forced to retire. Sarah Moore and Jessica Hawkins also retired from the race.

    Following her maiden win, Garcia is one of four drivers still in championship contention in third place with 60 points, with Chadwick continuing to lead the standings with 83 points. Visser follows with 73 points, and Wohlwend is in fourth with 41 points.

    Featured Image: W Series

  • Honda, From Nadir to Zenith

    Honda, From Nadir to Zenith

    SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA – JUNE 30: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15 celebrates during the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 30, 2019 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)

    ‘Success represents the 1% of your work which results from the 99% of failure’ Soichiro Honda.

    In 2015, Honda returned to Formula 1 and powered McLaren’s cars. That season, the Japanese manufacturer supplied Alonso’s and Button’s car with the Honda RA615H 1.6L engine. It was a tough season for McLaren and a difficult return in F1 for Honda, the engine was unreliable both drivers retired 12 times combined in the 2015 season. Kevin Magnussen, who replaced Alonso in the Australian Grand Prix, didn’t even start the race because his engine failed while he was driving to the grid.

    In general, it was a disastrous season that everyone in McLaren and especially Honda would like to forget.

    The following year, McLaren-Honda finished 6th in the constructors’ standings. Progress was made, considering the 9th position in 2015.

    “Half happy and of course we are not satisfied at our current position,” said Hasegawa.

    In 2017, Honda redesigned their engine and named it RA617H. Changes applied in 2017 rules, FIA dropped the regulation for limited engine development during one season, that gave the chance to the Japanese team to design a reliable motor. Honda’s official, Yusuke Hasegawa described the new design as “very high risk”.

    “The concept is completely different. It’s very high risk, we don’t know a lot of things about that new concept. We know it will give us a performance advantage but the biggest risk is whether we can realise that potential this year.” Said Yusuke

    Long story short, it was another disastrous season for McLaren-Honda. The engine was unreliable, Fernando Alonso finished 15th and Stoffel Vandoorne 16th. Jenson Button, who replaced Alonso in Monaco, retired due to suspension damage.

    During the season, McLaren announced the end of the partnership with Honda, after three years.

    Honda is a great company which, like McLaren, is in Formula 1 to win,” said Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, McLaren Group Executive Chairman and Executive Committee principal.

    “It is unfortunate that we must part ways with McLaren before fulfilling our ambitions, however, we made the decision with a belief that this is the best course of action for each other’s future,” commented Takahiro Hachigo, President and Director of Honda Motor.

    SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA – JUNE 30: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 30, 2019 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

    Last season, Honda partnered with Toro Rosso and scored 33 points, more than the years with McLaren combined.

    Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley retired three times due to engine issues, whilst in 2017 McLaren’s drivers forced to retire nine times for Honda related problems.

    The positive results and the signs of improvement convinced Red Bull to offer a two-year contract to Honda for 2019 and 2020.

    In Melbourne, Max Verstappen secured the first podium for Red Bull Racing-Honda. That was the first podium for the Japanese manufacturer after their return to Formula 1 in 2015.

    That was the beginning of a new era for Honda, eight races later, Verstappen wins the Austrian Grand Prix, the first win for Honda in the hybrid PU Era and the first since 2006.

    Honda boss, Toyoharu Tanabe, had no idea what to do for Austrian GP podium.

    “I was surprised when I was told to go [to the podium], I had no idea what I should do and that’s why I got to the podium later than other people. Normally you need to stay before the National Anthem – I thought I should be there for that but I was a bit late. But I joined after that. This was my first time – I was worried about what to do and no one told me!”

    Max Verstappen had a bad start, dropped from second to seventh, but managed to recover and after some tremendous laps, passed both Bottas and Leclerc and reached his first victory in 2019.

    The Japanese never give up, even when they face difficulties, they find the courage to fight back and overcome all the obstacles to reach their goal.

    “We were strong, but for the next race, I cannot guarantee we’ll be a strong as in Austria” said Toyoharu Tanabe

    As Formula 1 fan, I truly hope that Honda will remain competitive and will deliver reliable engines to Red Bull racing and Toro Rosso. The sport, needs strong teams to keep the competition high and increase the action during the races.

  • WorldSBK: Rea Dominates Donington Race 1 and Takes Points Lead, Bautista Crashes

    Despite a good forecast for the weekend, the first race of the eighth round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship was met with rain.

    The battle for the win was a simple one, and one which lasted the length of the run to turn one, as Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) made the holeshot and was from then on uncatchable. It was a dominant performance from the reigning World Champion who took his seventy-sixth WSBK win and – thanks also to a crash from Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) – the championship lead for the first time in 2019 as he leads Bautista by nine points going into Sunday’s two races.

    Alvaro Bautista at 2019 WSBK Donington Park race one. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) had been suffering with the flu through the weekend, but slotted into second place at turn one when Rea took the lead. Behind Sykes was Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who initially looked to try to pass the BMW rider, but eventually fell back into his own ‘cold war’ with Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha). None of these three riders changed position between turn one and the flag, with Sykes taking his second podium with BMW, and Haslam his fifth of the season. Baz, on the other hand, took the top ‘independent’ position with fourth place, as well as the honour of top Yamaha rider.

    The next YZF-R1 pilot was seven seconds behind Baz, as Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) completed a lonely second part of the race after he inherited fifth from Bautista when the Spaniard – with whom Lowes had been battling and trading times since almost the start of the race – crashed out.

    Sixth place went to Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) who took his best finish of the season and was the top ‘independent’ Kawasaki. The Argentinian had a battle in the mid-race with Peter Hickman who is in this weekend for the ill Markus Reiterberger at BMW Motorrad WorldSBK, but when Mercado was able to string some laps together he was able to break Hickman by thirteen seconds at the flag. Hickman in seventh place was the last rider within sixty seconds of Rea (with some favourable rounding), representing how spread out the race was and the dominance of Rea in the wet conditions.

    Michael van der Mark at the 2019 WSBK Race one at Donington Park. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

    Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) took eighth place only ten days after the surgery on his broken wrist, whilst Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) – who went off at Craner Curves twice in two laps – took ninth and Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) was the top Ducati in tenth.

    Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) was eleventh after he picked up speed from mid-race onwards to come from the back. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) struggled, like Davies, with the V4R in wet conditions and spent most of the race fighting with Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) for last, although was able to break away and also pass Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) for twelfth. Razgatlioglu had a tough race and took thirteenth, whilst Melandri was lapped by Rea on the Northern Irishman’s final tour and finished fourteenth and last of the finishers.

    Normally, with only fourteen finishers the number of retirements is big. However, the field was only seventeen-strong to begin with, so only three retired: Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK), Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) and the aforementioned Bautista who relinquished his points lead for the first time this year.

  • WorldSBK: Title Battle Moves to Britain

    WorldSBK: Title Battle Moves to Britain

    This weekend the Superbike World Championship heads to Donington for round eight of the 2019 season.

    Despite his speed advantage in many races throughout 2019 so far, Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing -Ducati) has only a sixteen-point lead coming into Donington. In part, this is thanks to his crashes in Jerez and Misano, both in the Sunday full-length races. Additionally, it is down to Jonathan Rea’s victories for Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK in the previous rounds, the Northern Irishman taking a 50% win-rate from the past eight races.

    Donington provides an opportunity for the Spaniard to fight back against the four-times World Champion, though. The British track is one Bautista knows from his Grand Prix days. The #19 accrued four podiums at Donington between 2004 and 2009 when Donington staged its most recent Grand Prix, including a win in 2006 on his way to the 250cc World Championship. Rea, on the other hand, has taken two wins at Donington in WorldSBK, the most recent coming in 2017 race two.

    Álvaro Bautista at Donington WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

    However, Donington has undergone changes since Bautista last races there, and will be somewhat unfamiliar to the Spaniard. The British round of the 2018 championship was not a straightforward one for Ducati, who didn’t achieve a single podium in either race, with Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) scoring the Panigale’s best result of the weekend on Sunday with fifth place, nearly five seconds of the win.

    The Ducati, though, has changed for this year, of course. The V4R has, in the hands of Bautista, enjoyed a significant pace advantage over the field at almost every track so far on the calendar and – whilst BSB have only visited the ‘National’ layout at Donington which misses the Melbourne Loop – the WorldSBK Ducati riders will be encouraged by the triple win of Scott Redding on the Be Wiser Ducati when the national championship was in Donington earlier this year.

    Bautista’s biggest strength with the Ducati – as a rider – this year has been his ability to carry corner speed. This should be highlighted in the first part of the track – from Redgate to the Foggy Esses – which consists mostly of long, medium-to-high-speed, corners. In comparison, Jonathan Rea has, as in the past with Kawasaki, proven especially strong in braking, which should be highlighted by the final sector, the aforementioned Melbourne Loop, which is comprised of heavy braking and hard acceleration. The crucial part this weekend in the context of the championship is which of Bautista and Rea can get closest to their rival in their prospective ‘weak point’. Rea’s previous prowess in the mid-corner, for which he was famed at Honda, would suggest before the weekend that the reigning champion has the advantage, but Bautista has proven wrong several predictions already this season.

    It is likely that the battle for between the championship leaders will not be a private affair at the front of any of the three races this weekend. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) is coming into Donington off the back of his best race in WorldSBK at Misano where he led Rea for much of the encounter, and missed out only on the final lap. Additionally, it must not be forgotten that Donington was the scene of Razgatlioglu’s first WSBK podium in 2018 when he beat Rea to second place.

    Michael van der Mark from WSBK Misano 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

    Of course, Donington last year was also the scene of Michael van der Mark’s double win for the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team. Van der Mark missed all three races in Misano thanks to a practice crash on Friday which also put him in doubt for this weekend. However, the Dutchman has been passed fit, although BSB’s Tarran Mackenzie is on standby if the Dutchman has to pull out.

    Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) has a fantastic chance to add to his solitary WorldSBK win this weekend, with the Yamaha’s strong recent record at the British track and his own tendency to perform in front of his home crowd.

    2018 was a disappointing year for Tom Sykes in general in his final year at Kawasaki. His first year at BMW Motorrad WorldSBK has been positive, though, and with the Briton taking his and the 2019 S1000RR’s first podium together in Misano, he arrives in Donington in good form. Between 2013 race one and 2017 race one, Sykes was unbeaten in Donington, and the combination of his hard braking style in the final sector and the BMW’s strong performance in the mid-corner in the first part of the lap should prove a strong one this weekend and perhaps one that can challenge for the win.

    Eugene Laverty is back in action this weekend for Team Goeleven after being out since a practice crash in Imola, although the #50 is by no means at 100%. Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team), on the other hand, is still missing this weekend, and will not be back in Laguna Seca, either – nor will he be replaced in Britain or California. Markus Reiterberger, contrarily, will be replaced this weekend by five-times Isle of Man TT race winner Peter Hickman, as the German rider is out with the flu.

    Featured image courtesy of Ducati

  • Moto3: Canet Leads as Championship Midpoint Approaches

    Moto3: Canet Leads as Championship Midpoint Approaches

    There is no rest for the Moto3 World Championship riders, as one week on from the Dutch TT the 2019 championship heads to the Sachsenring for the German Grand Prix, round nine of the year.

    In Assen, Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) became the first person to repeat wins in thirteen races, as the Italian took his second victory in three GPs. At a circuit which should suit the Honda, although perhaps not with the firm way Arbolino has it set, the Italian has a chance to make it three wins in 2019, which could single him out as a clear championship favourite heading into the second half of the season.

    Despite having more wins than any other rider, Arbolino is thirty-one points behind the championship leader, who remains Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) notwithstanding the Spaniard finishing only twelfth in the Netherlands. Canet finished fifth in Sachsenring last year, and crashed the year before after starting from pole position. The #44 has a mixed record in Germany, but could do with it swinging his way this weekend with his points lead down to just seven points.

    Tony Arbolino winner of Moto3 2019: Round Eight – Assen, Netherlands. Image courtesy of HondaNews.eu

    The rider sitting those seven points behind is the rider beaten in last lap fights by Arbolino in both of the #14’s wins: Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing). The #48 is without a win yet this season, although has been consistent in being there at the front. Only interference from other riders in the closing stages of races (Argentina, for example) or mechanical problems have prevented Dalla Porta from remaining in the top ten all season, but this is racing and anything can happen. Dalla Porta and his Leopard Racing team seem to be able to get his Honda working particularly well in a straight line. Whilst this might not be especially important in Sachsenring, the low power of Moto3 means that any minor gain can be an advantage come race time.

    John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) is the only ride racing in the Moto3 class who was on the Moto3 podium in Sachsenring last year. Whilst Marcos Ramirez was able to make it a KTM 2-3-4 last year and on more favourable Leopard Racing Honda machinery this year, he could be a threat for the podium at the circuit where he took his first top three back in 2017. Similarly, Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) was sixth last year and was unfortunate in Assen to retire with bike issues after running a strong race fighting for the podium. Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) is another rider who will be aiming to put a KTM on the podium, which would be the third time he were to do so in 2019 – a result which would be useful to the Italian rookie having dropped behind compatriot Arbolino in the points after Assen where he didn’t finish.

    Featured Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM